Death (personification)

:Grim Reaper redirects here. For other uses see Grim Reaper (disambiguation)

Death in popular fiction

The character of Death has recurred many times in popular fiction. He has made appearances in many stories, from serious dramatic fiction to comedy, including playing roles in science fiction and fantasy stories.

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Movies

Death Takes a Holiday was a 1934 film directed by Mitchell Leisen, and written by Maxwell Anderson. Death (Fredric March as Prince Sirki) decides to take a holiday from his usual business to see how the mortals live. Complications ensue as those who should have died do not. Death Takes a Holiday was remade in the 1998 film Meet Joe Black, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. While Meet Joe Black touches briefly on the consequences of a world where Death is not doing his job, its focus is on Death's experience as a human, and on the personal relationships within the family he chooses to stay with.

Related Topics:
Death Takes a Holiday - 1934 - Fredric March - 1998 - Meet Joe Black - Martin Brest - Brad Pitt - Anthony Hopkins

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In 1957, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman made The Seventh Seal, an influential (and heavily symbolic) movie depicting one of the most famous moments in the fictional portrayal of Death. In the movie, a medieval knight plays a game of chess with Death, with the knight's life depending upon the outcome of the game. The concept of playing games with Death has been used (and spoofed) many times since Bergman's movie. A 1968 short film called The Dove deliberately spoofed this famous movie scene, a young couple challenge Death to a game of badminton. Woody Allen has written a short story in which Death loses a game of gin rummy after clumsily entering a man's apartment and trying to cow him into going quietly. Bob Burden's surrealist comic book, "The Flaming Carrot", features a cover in which the title character rejects Death's offer of playing chess and suggests instead Jarts. In Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the brainless protagonists challenge Death to a series of inane games including Cluedo (Clue) and Twister. In the Arnold Schwartzenegger movie Last Action Hero, the character of Death from Bergman's Seventh Seal is brought into the real world temporarily, played by Ian McKellen. In the short-lived TV series Big Wolf on Campus the main character goes on a frantic gaming spree in which he loses several games to Death, a reverse-spoof of Bill and Ted, as well as Ingmar Bergman. Flash cartoon Weebl & Bob parodied this concept in their episode "Art". Death is portrayed by Monkey, and the characters are sitting on a chessboard, while Weebl & Bob bemoan (naturally) their lack of pie.

Related Topics:
1957 - Swedish - Ingmar Bergman - The Seventh Seal - Chess - Badminton - Woody Allen - Short story - Gin rummy - Bob Burden - Surrealist - Comic book - The Flaming Carrot - Jarts - Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - Cluedo - Twister - Arnold Schwartzenegger - Last Action Hero - Ian McKellen - Big Wolf on Campus - Flash cartoon - Weebl & Bob

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In Oliver Stone's 1991 film The Doors, Jim Morrison is haunted by Death, appearing in several scenes portrayed by Richard Rutowski. Death can be seen dancing behind him in orgiastic concert scenes or appearing in the background watching Morrison at bars, parties or on the street. In a scene deleted from the theatrical release, Death bumps into Morrison at an airport bar, heavily intoxicated and on his way to the ill-fated Miami show in 1969, inquiring, "how's it going?" and closing with a cryptic, "See you around, Jim."

Related Topics:
Oliver Stone - The Doors - Jim Morrison - Richard Rutowski

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In a number of comedy roles, the character of Death has had a Swedish foreign accent, paying homage (sometimes unintentionally) to his role in The Seventh Seal. In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, in which he is designed by Terry Gilliam and voiced by John Cleese, he annoys the hosts and guests at a dinner party by breaking it up prematurely.

Related Topics:
Swedish - Foreign accent - Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - Terry Gilliam - John Cleese

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Television

In the comedy Red Dwarf, Rimmer knees Death in the groin, telling him that "only the good die young". A some what ironic statement as he has already died twice in previous series.

Related Topics:
Red Dwarf - Rimmer

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As the Grim Reaper, Death even stars in an animated series on the Cartoon Network cable channel called The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (formerly Grim and Evil). In this cartoon, the grim reaper has a Jamaican accent and is a comedic character. The Grim Reaper has also made several appearances on The Simpsons, Animaniacs, South Park, Family Guy, and even an early Mickey Mouse cartoon.

Related Topics:
Animated series - Cartoon Network - The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy - Jamaica - The Simpsons - Animaniacs - South Park - Family Guy - Mickey Mouse

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In the CBS television show Touched by an Angel, Death was a recurring character, played by John Dye. Unlike many portrayals, Touched by an Angel depicted Death as a sympathetic character.

Related Topics:
CBS - Television - Touched by an Angel - John Dye

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Showtime's Dead Like Me portrays soul collection as a widespread organization with many different divisions and, most likely, thousands of "employees", each of whom take souls from the living upon death.

Related Topics:
Showtime - Dead Like Me

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Literature

Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series of fantasy novels features a modernised Grim Reaper, who is the central character of On a Pale Horse, the first book in the series. In this personification, Death is an office held by a mortal. The mortal holding the office of Death is protected from aging, fire, disease and other dangers by the cloak he wears. When not wearing the cloak, the office holder is subject to any and all dangers and consequences just as any other mortal. The person holds the office of Death until they themselves die, usually because they become careless over time, and are themselves killed by someone they have come to collect. This person then takes over the office, and the cycle begins anew.

Related Topics:
Piers Anthony - Incarnations of Immortality

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The character of Death is also a major player in the humorous Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, where he is perhaps paradoxically seen as an ally of humanity, since he is a part of the natural order of things and often finds himself defending humanity against threats to that order. As a tongue-in-cheek allusion to The Seventh Seal, he doesn't like chess, because he cannot remember "how the little horse-shaped ones move". He speaks in a hollow yet heavy voice, often expressed in small caps, and eschewing the use of quotation marks.

Related Topics:
Death - Discworld - Terry Pratchett - The Seventh Seal - Small caps

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Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories' Death is seen as the ruler of a gloomy realm, who is, himself, always sad. In one story, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser have to steal Death's mask, and in others, Death tries to take the famous pair, only to be thwarted by their sorcerous mentors and their own uncanny good luck. He has quotas to meet, designated by their roles in life, and when the quota includes "two heroes," Fafhrd and the Mouser are first on his list. Interestingly, Leiber's version of Death is aware that at some point in the future, he himself is fated to die.

Related Topics:
Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

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Comics

A different personification of Death appears in The Sandman, a series of comic books written by Neil Gaiman, in which Death, one of the Endless, appears in the guise of a Gothic girl wearing an Ankh around her neck, to symbolize the idea that life and death are two sides of the same reality. Gaiman's Death is cheerful and supportive, perhaps not only as a way of playing with audience expectations, but also to demistify death itself, which is seen as a moment of passage rather than a real ending.

Related Topics:
Death - The Sandman - Comic book - Neil Gaiman - Endless - Gothic - Ankh

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Irregular Webcomic! has Death as a unifying "theme", or set of characters. Each very specific manner of death has an assigned Death, some of whom are not very busy. Death of Insanely Overpowered Fireballs, Death of Choking On A Giant Frog, Head Death, and Death of Being Ground By A Mars Rover Rock Abrasion Tool are some mentioned.

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Jack has the main character, Jack, become a Grim Reaper in the form of the sin Wrath as punishment for his own sin.

Related Topics:
Jack - Sin - Wrath

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Smax also features multiple Deaths handling different circumstances. "Lionel" handles chess games with peasants (and looks like the death in The Seventh Seal) and "Dennis", a large imposing character, handles "awesome, terrible death".

Related Topics:
Smax - The Seventh Seal

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Liberty Meadows includes a Death that looks like the one from Seventh Seal. Frank (the main character) has drowned but is resuscitated by a frog. While in the underworld, Frank escapes by making Death "look". Death hounds him later, expecting a razor cut to kill him.

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The Grim Reaper is a supervillain that has fought Vision and Scarlet Witch on different occassions.

Related Topics:
Grim Reaper - Vision - Scarlet Witch

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Computer and video games

In the PC game The Sims, Death will come to collect the souls of dead Sims; the player may have the option of challenging Death to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors in exchange for the life of the dead. In ' expansion pack the player can bring the dead back to life with a special phone; however, they will need to pay a certain price or the chosen sim will come back as a zombie.

Related Topics:
PC - The Sims - Rock, Paper, Scissors

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In Theme Hospital, when a 'bad' patient dies, the Grim Reaper appears from a hole in the ground, takes the person to Hell, then closes up again.

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The Castlevania series of video games portrays Death as the right hand man of Dracula, and must be defeated in each incarnation of the series.

Related Topics:
Castlevania - Dracula

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Manny Calavera, from Grim Fandango, is a travel agent to the afterlife.

Related Topics:
Manny Calavera - Grim Fandango

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Death also makes an appearance in the games based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

Related Topics:
Death - Terry Pratchett - Discworld

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In the Nethack computer game, Death is one of the Four horsemen of the Apocalypse, which the player meets at the very end of the game.

Related Topics:
Nethack - Four horsemen of the Apocalypse

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The Grim Reaper has also appeared in the Nintendo 64 game Conker's Bad Fur Day (Greg the Grim Reaper) who is very short and comical and hates cats.

Related Topics:
Nintendo 64 - Conker's Bad Fur Day

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